Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Yep, it's that time of year again -- in the last four weeks, I have attended 23 birthday parties within my family. Yikes! And there are four more parties this coming weekend! Double-yikes!

No, I do not have 23 siblings. 14 of them are enough, thank-you. Some of these parties were for nieces, nephews, and "The Greats."

I tell 'ya, I am all "caked out." LOL!

It's nice to see all the members of my family who live within driving distance of my home (not all of them do -- I have family scattered around the country and the globe!) One might think it is a bit too much. For me, no... but it does keep me busy riding from place to place. However, I love it.

With such a large family, we do not exchange presents. I give a card, a warm hug, smiles and good cheer. I think I may be among the few who knows everyone's names and their ages... but I have a little secret. I am the keeper of our Family Tree, and I reference it before I go to one of the parties.

While I have attended 23 such festivities over the last four weeks, I have not attended all of them. Some were far away, some were at very inconvenient times, and some conflicted with others.

That's okay... we love each other and do our best to keep in touch, even though this Uncle Martian Dinosaur still refuses to get a data plan on his cell phone and exchange text messages. The younger ones do not use email or the phone, so I communicate with them via Facebook. One way or another, we remain closely connected.